Textile machine cleaner



g- 2- J. P. LAWRENCE 2,291,598.

TEXTILE MACHINE CLEANER Filed May 18, 1940 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR. 14/![5 PAUL MWAf/VCE BY 6 TM A TORNEYS.

g- 1942- J. P. LAWRENCE TEXTILE MACHINE CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /9 25 223 fll I 33 2 ,mnzs glzwk vcf TORNEYS.

Patented A 4, 1942' i i 7 2,291,598

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TEXTILE MAOHIN E CLEANER James Paul Lawrence, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The American Mono Rail Company, Cleveland, Ohio, in. corporation of Ohio Application May 18, 1940, Serial No. 335,991

7 Claims. (Cl. 15-20) This invention relates to apparatus for cleanembodiment thereof, reference being had to the ing textile machinery or the like and more paraccompanying drawings, in which ticularly to an improved blower system for re- Figure l is a more or less diagrammatic elevamoving lint, dust and fly from textile machines. t onu V ew ow g a P t O a row of Spinning In the Lawrence and Szekely United States frames and a track thereabove for a traveling Patent No. 2,175,608 of October 10, 1939, a blower cleaner, together with my control apparatus for and track system is described whereby a draft reducing the air output of the cleaner to a precreating blower is caused to travel over rows of determined low value when the blower passes textile machines and discharge an air blast over an idle frame. downwardly upon the machines in such a man- Figure 2 is an end elevation oi. the blower ner that they are kept free from harmful accumhousing incorporating my improved output conulations of dust, lint, etc. trol mechanism.

Textile machines, such as spinning frames, are t Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken commonly arranged in long rows over which the genera ly on line 3-101? Figure 2 and 111115- blower track extends and at times one or more tratingmy air inlet door operating mechanism.

textile machine may be temporarily shut down Figure 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view to suit the production schedule of the mill or for On line 349f Figure 2. setting up the machine, or for other reasons. Figure 5 18 an e a e e tary vertical w t type of apparatus shown in the above a cross-sectional view of the operating linkage for noted Lawrence patent the blower fan the air inlet control doors and the solenoid for operates continuously and the downward draft is operating the samedischarged against idle as well as operating ma- In Figure 1 Portions of three spinning frames chines. The repeated strong blasts of air bloware shOWn at B and It will be understood ing against the stationary roving on an idle mathat any number of frames may be arranged chine may cause injury or tanglmg thereof and a row and that the track I is suitably supported also may disturb the roving on the roving bobbins above the w of frames by hangers 2 depending lying on the creel board. The blasts of air are from the cemng or the room The spinning frames A and C may be considered to be operalso objectionable to workmen who may be working on the machine. It is among the objects of g i g s g may a my present invention to provide means for re-' s ere e s u 9 ravelmg owe:

is generally indicated at D and in the embodiducmg thef dlsclimrge of an from the traveling ment shown it is driven along the track by suitblower mm as It passes over an idle spinning able drivin connections from the drivin motor frame or the like to such a value that it will not 3 As will ippear more fully later as blower be objectionable in any way but will Still be of travels along the track l'in the direction of the sufficient force to prevent undesirable accumuarrow in Figure 1 it normally discharges a rela t g and lint on the machine while it tively strong draft of air downwardly upon the is on o opera ion.

other objects of my invention include: the spinning machines to remove and prevent the of means for throttling the quantity m y r ir i v tigr i n mgfates the provision of iifitiiii ii piisini titi i fi iifniiifififii 1 means gig l D it v r an fram an en provision of adjustable means for regulating the g gz 3: 2335: g r nongal output degree of reduction in the air blast from as it leaves the idle frame. This is accomplished eling blower as it passes over an idle machine; 0 by means f Switch Operating dogs 4 and 5 which Ell e prtrirvisirilri1 of brlneans redlucifia r 11 23 are detachably secured to the track I andhadapta ave g Ower e 0 ea S 1 ed to be easily installed and removed w enever preaches an id m ine a d urn n the and wherever it is desired to cut down the draft put of the blower to normal as it leaves the idle discharged on a particular hi Any itmachine; and the provision of simple and effecabl m ans (not shown) may be employed for tive control means for effecting a reduction in removably securing the dogs I and 5 to any suitthe output of a traveling textile cleaner during able part of the track structure. The draft concertain portions of its travel. trol switch id is suppogteld oirtihthe carriaiie1 ofbtlt e The above and other objects of my invention blower D an is provi e w an opera g u will appear from the following description of one ton l disposed in alignment with the switch operating dogs 4 and 5. This switch may be of any suitable and well known type whereby, when the button 1 is caused to be depressed by engagement with the dog 4, connections will be established to energize the solenoid 3, and when the button is again depressed by the dog the solenoid 3 will be tie-energized.

It will be understood that the switch 6 and dogs 4 and 5 are diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1 and that any suitable switch apparatus and arrangement of adjustable stops or dogs on the supporting structure for the traveling blower could be employed to operate my draft control means. When several machines are idlewdogs 4 and 5 will, of course, be positioned adjacent each idle machine.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 to 5, the blower D includes a motor 9 connected to drive a blower type fan shown at I0. This fan is disposed in the upper chamber II of the blower housing I2 which chamber is separated from the bottom or inlet portion I3 of the housing I2 by a baiile wall II provided with a central opening I5 which directs air into the axial inlet of the blower III. The bottom of the inlet chamber I3 is closed by a plate I6 through which the draft discharge outlets I1, I1, I8 and I8 extend. The apparatus just described is substantially similar to that shown in the above noted Lawrence et al patent and the air outlet passages I1, I1. I8 and I8v extend upwardly from the plate I6 through the chamber I3 into the chamber II. Thus, it will be seen that, when the motor 9 drives the fan, air will be drawn in through the axial inlet I5 and discharged radially outwardly and caused to be directed downwardly upon the spinning frames through the outlet openings I1, I1, I8 and I8. Inlet air is admitted into the chamber I3 through a pair of gates or doors I9 and 20, which, as is seen in Figure 1, are disposed on the advance and trailing portions of the hous-- ing I2. The door I9 is hinged at I9 and the door 20 similarly hinged at 20.

plate I6, and adapted to engage and adjustably limit the downward or opening movement of the plunger 2|.

When, however, the control switch 6 engages and is operated by a dog 4 to energize the solenoid 8 the plunger 2| will be lifted into the position shown in Figure 3 and the doors I9 and 20 will be moved into their air inlet restricting positions, as seen in Figures 3 and 4. When in this position the entry of air into the chamber I3 is not entirely prevented as it will be seen that the doors are not tightly closed, being prevented from complete closure by adjustable stop screws 38 and 39. These screws extend through the vertical cylindrical wall of the housing I2 and are provided with lock nuts 38' and 39' whereby they may be held in any desired position of adjustment. The inner ends of screws 38 and 39 act as stops against which the edges of the doors I9 and 20 strike, thus limiting their closing movement. By varying the adjustment of the screws 38 and 39 the flow of air into the chamber I3 and into the blowerlll is regulated to give the desired reduced discharge of air when the blower passes over an idle machine.

When the solenoid 8 is de-energized upon engagement of the switch operating device 1 with a de-energizing dog 5 the pressure differential between the chamber I3 and the atmosphere will The solenoid 8 may be supported from the stationary baffle wall I4 by arms 8- and includes a plunger 2|, which carries a pin 22 at its lower end, and may be provided with a stop member 23 to limit its maximum movement into the solenoid 8; One arm 24 of a bell crank lever has a slotted connection at 25 with the pin 22. The lever is pivotally mounted at 26 on a bracket 21 carried by the bottom plate IS and the other arm 28 of this lever is pivotally secured at its upper end to the operating rod 29. On the inner surface of the door 20 is a bracket 30 to which the other end of rod 29 is pivotally attached. When the plunger 2| moves downwardly the above described linkage will open the. door 20 and when the plunger is moved upwardly upon energization of the solenoid 8, the door 20 will be moved in closing direction.

In similar manner, the door I9 is operated simultaneously with the door 20 through an operating rod3| and a bell'crank having arms 32 and 33 and being pivotally mounted at 34 on a bracket 35. The end of the arm 33 is slotted at 36 to engage the pin 22 on the plunger 2|. Thus, movement of the plunger .2I will operate the doors I9 and 20.

The open position of the doors I9 and 20 shown in Figure 5, may be considered to be the normal or operating position which is maintained whenever the blower D is passing over operating frames. This open position is determined by the adjustable abutment screw 31, carried by the bottom be effective upon the doors I9 and 20 to move them immediately into open position and move the plunger 2| into its lower position in engagement with stop 31.

In my apparatus the motor 9 and blower III operate continuously and by simply throttling the inflow of air into the chamber I3 I am able accurately to control the output of air through the discharge openings I1, I1, I8 and I8. Thus, a full stream of air is maintained over the active machine A up to the moment when the solenoid 8 is energized upon engagement of the switch button 1 with the dog 4. Immediately upon such engagement the solenoid 8 lifts the plunger 2| moving the doors I9 and 20 into the restricting positions shown in Figures 3 and 4 wherein the inlet air to the blower I0 is so restricted that the discharge !from the blower will be only sufficient to prevent the accumulation of dust, etc., on the idle spinning frame B. If the discharge of air from the blower D were completely stopped while passing over an idle frame the idle machine would accumulate undesirable quantities of dust, etc., which might cause trouble when the ,normal draft was resumed and the machine was again'put in operation. By maintaining a restricted discharge over the idle machines, I am able to prevent damage to the roving and uncomfortable operating conditions for men working on the machine and still keep all of the machines in the mill in cleancondition at all times.

Although I have illustrated a solenoid and means for energizing and de-energizing same to actuate the control doors or dampers for the blower inlet it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other means might be employed for opening and closing these doors. For example, a motor or mechanically operated linkage could be used. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the specific form of my invention herein illustrated and described, but claim all embodiments thereof coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for cleaning textile machines or the like, a track extending over a row of madischarge of air and means for actuating said last named means when said unit reaches a predetermined place on said track.

2. In apparatus for cleaning textile machines and the like, a track extending over a row machines, a device supported for movement along said track and including a blower for discharging air upon machines therebelow, means for decreasing the normal amount of air discharged by said blower without substantially stopping the discharge of air from said blower when the blower reaches a predetermined place on said track and means for increasing to normal the amount of air discharged by said blowerwhen said blower reaches another predetermined place on said track.

3. In traveling ceaning apparatus of the type described, a track, a housing movable along said track, a fan in said housing, said housing having an outlet opening for air discharged from said fan and an inlet opening for air entering said Ian,

means for restricting said inlet opening,- means operatively associated with said inlet restricting means for varying the amount of restriction of said inlet opening, and means for actuating said restriction varying means when said housing passes predetermined places on said track.

4. In traveling cleaning apparatus, a track structure, a housing movable along said track structure, a fan in said housing, means for driving said fan, said housing having an outlet opening for air discharged from said fan and an inlet opening for air entering said fan, a movable door for one of said openings, a dog member carried by said track structuremeans for moving said door in closing direction, means actuated by engagement with said dog member for operating said door closing means, and means for limiting closing movement of said door whereby said one of said openings will not be completely closed.

' 5. In machine cleaning apparatus of the type described, a supporting structure, a housing movable along said supporting structure, a fan in said housing, means for driving said Ian, said housing having an inlet opening for air entering said fan and an outlet opening for air discharged irom said fan, closure means for said inlet opening, means for moving said closure means in inlet closing direction, and means on said supporting structure whereby said closure moving means will be automatically actuated at a predetermnied point in the travel of said housing. I

. 6. In machine cleaning apparatus of the type described, a supporting structure, a housing movable along said supporting structure, a fan in said housing, means for driving said fan, said housing having an inlet opening for air entering said fan and an outlet opening for air discharged from said fan, closure means for said inlet opening, means for moving said closure means in inlet closing direction, means on said supporting structure whereby said closure moving means will be automatically actuated at a predetermined point in the travel of said. housing, and means for limiting the degree of closing of said closure member to prevent complete closing of said inlet opening. 7. In machine cleaning apparatus of the type described, a supporting structure'a housing mov- Y able along said supporting structure, a tan in said housing, means for driving said fan, said housing having an inlet opening for air entering said tan and an outlet for air discharged from said fan, closure means for said inlet opening, electrically operated means for moving said closure means, switch means for controlling said electrically operated means, spaced dogs removably secured'to said supporting structure in the path of said switch means whereby said closure means will be disposed in inlet restricting position during a portion'of the travel of said housing and in open position during another portion of the travel of said housing,

JAMES PAUL LAWRENCE. 

